if they can't reach, the elbow of someone touching the offerings. The elder or the shaman ties a piece of string around the wrist. In Lao tradition, the soul consists of many guardian spirits that occasionally wander away from their owner. These must be called back and bound to the body to ensure a person is properly protected before any important undertaking. Once the elder has finished other participants continue tying loops of string. Yet more string is produced and finally everyone ties string around each other's wrists, whispering good wishes all the while. It is believed that the string must be worn for at least three full days to ensure the desired effect. Phi Fa dance Lam Phi Fa (, , ) is part of the ritual to propitiate spirits in cases of possession. Musically it derived from Lam Tang Yao; however, it was performed not by trained musicians but by those, most commonly old women, who were thought themselves to have been cured by the ritual. In his Traditional Music of the Lao, Terry Miller identifies five factors which helped to produce the various genres of lam or dance in Isan: animism, Buddhism, story telling, ritual courtship, and male-female competitive folk music. One of these is Lam Phi Fa, the Phi Fa dance. Lam Phi Fa, together with Lam Phuen is one of the oldest genres. Modern adaptations Jao Nang "The Princess' Terror", Pob Pee Fah and its 2009 remake are Thai television soap operas (ละคร) based on the Phi Fa / Phi Pop legend. Further reading Warawut Roengbuthra & Bussakorn Sumrongthong, Phi Faa Ritual Music of the Northeastern Part of Thailand, Voices, Vol 6(1), March 1, 2006 References External links ลำผีฟ้า - Phi Fa dance Sumrongthong, Bussakorn (2004). Music Therapy in Thailand. Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy Ram Taen ritual Asian shamanism Thai deities Laotian deities Videos http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phi_Faa_Shamanistic_Healing_Ritual_NE-Thailand-Laos.ogg http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phi_Faa_Shamanistic_Ritual_NE-Thailand_&_Laos_-_Preparation_of_the_Ritual.ogg